Walks in England

England is a land of contrasts and huge variety. It’s a small, densely populated country yet tranquility is never too far away. Even the area surrounding London is dotted with woodland. The Gulf Stream warms the surrounding sea, giving rise to a relatively mild, though sometimes wet, climate.

However, with the right waterproof gear, rain rarely threatens to overwhelm the superb views and experiences offered by the National Parks, including the Lake District, Exmoor, the New Forest, Dartmoor, the Yorkshire Dales and the newly created South Downs Park. In addition to the parks, designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and other scenic spots in England are protected for the enjoyment of all. Some of these areas have become more accessible with the new ‘right to roam’ Act, which allows more access onto open fells and moorland.

The Romans established an extensive road network and traders throughout the ages have established a network of routes for carrying goods and for local communication. The result is a fine web of public footpaths that criss-cross the country. Today, walkers follow in their ancestors’ footsteps as they head towards old Roman villas, ancient burial mounds and hill forts, medieval cathedrals, old mines, Georgian towns and more. There’s an impressive variety of birds and wildlife too.

There are millions of walkers in England, so there’s a good support system in place. Walks are clearly marked and Ordnance Survey, Britain’s mapping agency, provides an extensive range of maps for each part of the country, of which the 1:25,000 Explorer is undoubtedly the walker’s favourite.

Help

You can use these pages to browse for walks in specific regions, counties and areas. It is a good idea to narrow down your search to the most local area possible, as the list of walks for larger areas can be very long. An alternative way of searching is to use the Find a Walk tool.

We would like to include a short article for each of the areas on these pages. If an area has no article and you can send us a few hundred words about the area, pointing out its key attractions and other useful information, we would greatly appreciate it.